[Tamiya] Ford Focus WRC (Job Log)

At first I thought I was going to make just one, but I decided to work on them at the same time because the two kits are completely identical except for the decals.

First, remove the small irregularities protruding from the surface.

Top: Acropolis version
Bottom: '01 Martini version
The Acropolis version looks like it should be made with two round holes, but I don't really care about the historical evidence, so I decided to skip it.

Panel-line engraving, sanding, washing done.

For brightly colored vehicles, it is very important to block light transmission.
The feeling is weak under fluorescent light, but the feeling of the hard and opaque shell is clearly different in backlight or natural light.
So, I painted the inside black. (right)

All white exterior parts were painted black.

Then I painted the glossy white surfacer and finished painting it all the way to glossy white.

Since the spare tire is usually installed upside down on the inside, there is no detail in the edge of the rim, so I made a step.
But, this vehicle was not overturned, but upright. (In a words, I did something useless)

The '01 car must be painted 'Racing Blue' on the rear butt with the 'Martini Stripe' as the boundary.

And the 'air hole' on the front bumper also needs to be painted.
You can put a decal on the headlamp cover, but I decided to paint it...

In general, it is painted after masking, but I drew directly with an airbrush without masking so that the borderline becomes a gradient.

The butt was painted in the same way.
Tamiya's manual is accurate, so if you draw it as closely as possible, it will fit in the right place.

The areas painted differently than intended can be erased with a compound.

When I cut and attach the 'Martini Stripe', it was painted properly to fit the location.

As I remember in the past, it was difficult to attach the decals one by one on the left and right, but now it is divided into two parts, so it is easy to attach.

Martini Pattern done.

The decal with the Ford logo and racing number turned yellow. So I put it on the window and let it sunbathe.

So this time I applied the decal of the Acropolis vehicle. This decal has been around for over ten years since I bought it, so it was stiff and brittle, so I had a lot of trouble.

Done.

Martini car done.

Wheel done.

All decals have been applied. Yay~

Put the white underneath...

I also applied the base colors...

I masked it and put titanium silver on it.

I should have painted titanium silver, but I forgot.
And I was going to airbrush the under panel, but it was cumbersome to mask, so I decided to just paint it with a brush.

I masked it and painted it black.

And, I painted everything else with a brush.

After the clear coating of the body shell was finished, I used sandpaper to trim the surface.

Compounding done.
But, occurred clear paint trouble.

This is not scrach.

No matter how much compounding was done on this part, it could not be polished.
It felt as if the paint had not cured.

The side of the Acropolis vehicle was severely cracked in the clear layer.

The car's roof remained similar to the orange skin.

Clear coat again.
But, paint troubles and cracks got worse.

Anyway, I finished the surface cleaning and compounding.

Curiously, the clear is double-layered, so the lower layer has fingerprints, and the upper layer is shiny. ?

The part where the crack was very bad didn't get any better than this.
And after a few days, now the cracks appeared again. ?
I can't add more clears now because the paint is too thick, and there's nothing else I can do, so I keep going.

As for the grill part, there is a possibility that the decal may come off when the tape is peeled off, so the adhesive surface was minimized.

Red Arrow: I bought square beads and painted them with the intention of using them for the side blinkers of cars in the 80s and 90s. (Not used this time)

Tail lamps painting done.

I used Tamiya Panel Line Accen

The window frames were painted with Vallejo Mecha Primer(Black) using a brush.

The reflective surface of the tail lamp was painted with Molotow Liquid Chrome ink using a brush.

Now, ready to assemble.

Assemble...

Assemble...

I also applied the remaining decals.

Assemble interior.

Assemble interior.

Seat belt detail-up.
This is 2mm line-tape(marking tape, color tape).

Since it is a tape, it is easy to wrap it around the back bar and attach it.

Interior done.

I will using P

inner parts.

Attach rear glas

Ante

Finish.

Finish.

Comments

11 2 April 2022, 07:34

bossy122
Those Acropolis decals are challenging, to say the least. Nicely done. I used the Hasegawa kit for the gravel set up.

3 April 2022, 05:24

MS K
Thanks bossy122.
Maybe I think your decals are pretty old too. good luck 😉

3 April 2022, 05:39

bossy122
I just looked back at my build.....the drivers rear decal fell to pieces and I couldn't get all the pieces back together very well. Knowing the decals were shit, I brushed Micro Sol decal film over the passenger front fender decal and stupidly got dust under the film and it looked awful. I had to wait a long time to find a replacement sheet. I didn't get those on perfectly either as those big OLD decals over that incredibly uneven area are T O U G H.....as you know.

3 April 2022, 06:01

MS K
When I bought the kit from several years ago, I kept the decals and stickers sealed by food vacuum sealer.
-------------------------
Acropolis Decal: I sealed it with a sealer maybe ten years after purchase. (damaged)
Martini Decal: Sealed with sealer as soon as I bought it. (fresh)

5 April 2022, 06:49